59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division


caption= The insignia of the 59th Division
dates= 1939 - 1944
country= United Kingdom
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branch= Infantry
type= Infantry Division
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size= Approximately 18,000 men
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battle_honours= Battle of Normandy
disbanded= August 1944
commander1= Major-General L.O. Lyne
commander1_label= Officer Commanding
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command structure
name= 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division
date= 1939-1944
parent= I Corps, XII Corps
subordinate= 176th Infantry Brigade
177th Infantry Brigade
197th Infantry Brigade

The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was a 2nd Line Territorial Army unit of the British Army during the Second World War. It served as part of the 21st Army Group during the early stages of the North-West Europe campaign. It was one of two divisions (the other being 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division) of this army group that was disbanded due to the acute shortage of infantry reinforcements.

History

The 59th Division was reconstituted on 21 August 1939 as a duplicate of the 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division. Having been kept in Britain until mid-1944, the division's lead units landed in Normandy as part of the Second Army on 26 June. Attached to I Corps for Operation Charnwood, the division was employed in the north-western outskirts of Caen, fighting heavily against elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division [ [http://59div.morssweb.com/?bcaen 59th (Staffordshire) Division in WWII ] ] . Subsequently the division was attached to XII Corps in the Odon Valley.

It fought in Normandy until 18 August 1944 when, due to the severe casualties suffered by other British units in the British Second Army, it was disbanded. It was chosen because it was the most junior of the divisions in Normandy and its men used as badly needed reinforcements for the rest of the Second Army

Order of Battle

This is the division's order of battle at the time of its disbandment on 18 August 1944.

176th Infantry Brigade
*6th Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment
*7th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment
*7th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment

177th Infantry Brigade
*5th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
*1st/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
*2nd/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment

197th Infantry Brigade
*5th Battalion, The East Lancashire Regiment
*2nd/5th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers
*1st/7th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment

Divisional Troops
*7th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
*59th Reconnaissance Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps
*61st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
*110th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
*116th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
*68th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery
*257th Field Company, Royal Engineers
*509th Field Company, Royal Engineers
*510th Field Company, Royal Engineers

Bibliography and Notes

* Knight, Peter, "The 59th Division: Its War Story". Frederick Muller, 1954. No ISBN.
* [http://59div.morssweb.com/?oob 59th Division History and Order of Battle]
* [http://www.memorial-montormel.org/?id=100 History of the 59th Division on memorial-montormel.org]
*
* [http://orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo/017_britain/39_org/div_mot.html#div-50 British World War II Military Data Base]

ee also

*Operation Charnwood